Washington – The Computer & Communications Industry Association submitted comments and will be testifying before the Oregon Senate Committee on Commerce and General Government in opposition to SB 1580, warning that the proposal raises significant constitutional, free speech, and economic concerns – while failing to meaningfully support local journalism.
SB 1580 would impose liability on digital services for linking to or displaying news content, creating legal uncertainty around routine online activity such as indexing or referencing headlines. CCIA cautioned that the bill misunderstands how news organizations benefit from digital services, which drive significant traffic and audience engagement to publications. Additionally, similar “link tax” policies adopted internationally have reduced traffic to news outlets and created unintended consequences for smaller and community-based publications.
CCIA’s testimony also raised concerns that the proposal conflicts with federal copyright law and First Amendment protections by effectively requiring payment for the display of publicly accessible information online. The Association warned that the bill’s broad remedies and unclear definitions could chill lawful speech and discourage information sharing across the internet.
In addition to legal risks, CCIA emphasized that SB 1580 is unlikely to deliver sustainable funding for local journalism. Instead, the structure of the bill could benefit larger, out-of-state media companies while imposing compliance burdens on smaller publishers and digital services operating in Oregon.
The following statement can be attributed to CCIA State Policy Manager, West Region, Aodhan Downey, who is testifying in opposition to the bill today:
“Oregon lawmakers share a goal we all support — strengthening local journalism and ensuring communities have access to reliable information. Unfortunately, SB 1580 takes the wrong approach. Policies that penalize linking and indexing threaten the open internet, raise serious constitutional issues, and risk reducing traffic to the very publications they aim to help. We encourage policymakers to pursue solutions that support independent newsrooms without undermining free expression or disrupting the information-sharing ecosystem that helps Oregonians discover news online.”
